Mobile tracking or location tracking is the process of ascertaining a position of a mobile device (e.g., smartphone, tablet, smart-wearable, laptop, etc.) as it moves over time. Mobile tracking may use localization which is based on a multilateration of radio signals between several cell towers of a cellular network and the mobile device. As another option, mobile tracking may use the Global Positioning System (GPS) to track the device. The recorded location data may be stored and/or transmitted to an Internet-connected device such as a telecommunications provider, and the like.
A mapping application may represent a path of movement of a user device on a virtual representation of a geographic map. Here, the tracked movement may be represented using a line in a shape of the movement. However, visually illustrating temporal data with a geographic map is a difficult task. Furthermore, when you have multiple people (and corresponding devices) in a geographic area, the map may indicate that travel paths have crossed. However, paths crossing is not evidence that the users of these devices met, because the spatial crossing may not have occurred at the same time. Accordingly, what is needed is a way to visualize both spatial and temporal data with respect to a movement of a mobile device.
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